Latvian Citizenship

If your heritage is Latvian, then it may be possible to claim your Latvia citizenship and get the associated Latvian EU passport. A Latvia EU passport can give you, and your family, benefits you may not have even considered that comes with being a citizen of the EU. In Australia, we have many people who are now taking advantage of this unprecedented opportunity.

Why would I want a Latvia EU passport?

A European Union passport holder has entitlements that are valuable. Some of the benefits include:

• Eligibility to work
• Eligibility for university level education
• Own and reside in property
• Ease of travel in Europe

For more details review our EU Passports page.

What is the process to get an EU Latvia Passport by descent?

There are  a number of steps that you need to go through in order to be eligible to get your Latvian EU passport. Without guidance, the process can be time-consuming and frustrating. Our structured process allows for a smoother path to approval when compared to random ad hoc applications.  We will work with you to determine eligibility, assist with the application and the associated documentation requirements.  When the official documents are approved, we will then work with you on the process to the get EU passport.

Eligibility

Eligibility is determined based on a set of criteria and your specific circumstances.  Some cases are clear as to your eligibility.  Other cases require more research and supporting documentation. By answering our eligibility checklist, we will be able to recommend to you of the next actions to take.

Documentation

In most cases, our clients need additional supporting documentation.  We facilitate the process of getting these documents. Our partners based in Europe will conduct the research and extract the necessary documents to help support your application. This is where most people in Australia cannot assist you with your application. Sourcing these documents can be tedious and unless you know where to go and what to ask for, you can often be thwarted.

Application

When the supporting documents have been sourced then the application can then be submitted.  Often, there is some coordination with the Polish officials.  You will need to attend an interview in Australia and the formalities of identification will be conducted.

Polish Citizenship Document

When citizenship is confirmed you will receive the formal documentation and that is required to get your EU Latvian Passport.

 NEXT STEPS

Frequently Asked Questions

Language requirement?

You do not need to know the Latvian language to restore your citizenship if your ancestors left after WWII. You need to know the Latvian language if your ancestors left before or during WWII.

Eligibility Criteria?

You can get a dual Latvian citizenship if at least one of your parents, grandparents or great grandparents were Latvian citizens and left Latvia some time from 1918 to 1990, the country of your residence is in NATO, EU, Brazil or Australia. Dual Latvian citizenship means that you can get Latvian citizenship/passport and keep your current citizenship, according to Latvian law.

TO GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR CASE

If you would like for us to call you regarding your edibility, please either call our office or Fill out this GET A QUOTE form. 

 What is the process?

In a nutshell, the application process for a Latvian citizenship is the following:

• We will find documents proving your ancestors' Latvian citizenship and the fact that they left Latvia,
• You will collect some documents that prove that you are a direct descendant of the Latvian citizen (we will tell exactly which documents are needed, usually it is 3-5 documents, such as birth and marriage certificates and a copy of your passport),
• We will prepare the application and translate all the documents to Latvian,
• We will submit the application directly in Latvia on your behalf,
• We will follow up the status of your application and ensure that its processing is not delayed by local officials,

We will tell you where you can collect your Latvian passport after the application process is finished.

Can you find documents needed in Latvia? I do not have any documents from Latvia, can you help?

- Our experience of archival search

We have extensive experience searching in various archives in Latvia and Germany for the documents needed by our clients. There are different archives in Latvia and most of them can have some type of citizenship records and in most of the cases, we were able to find the documents needed.

We can also find documents in German archives showing that your ancestors left during the WW2 and were staying in Germany in Displaced Persons’ Camps or were deported for forced labor.

How long it takes

Usually, the application takes 1-3 months to prepare (the actual time mostly depends on how fast you can get the necessary documents from your country of residence). It can take around 6 months for Migration Department to process the application. So I would say, you should expect to have your Latvian citizenship in about 6-9 months after starting the process. However, due to increasing number of applications, the processing time by Migration Department is increasing so we urge our clients to submit applications early.

We stay in contact with Migration department and follow up the status of your application during its processing period, in order to make sure that it is processed as fast as possible (making sure they do not have any questions, in case they need additional information - it is immediately provided and making sure that the application is not de-prioritized, because nobody is following it up).

TO GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR CASE

If you would like for us to call you regarding your edibility, please either call our office or Fill out this GET A QUOTE form.  Or you might wish to answer 5 questions in this simple questionnaire and one of our representatives will call or email you back to discuss your answers.  The questionnaire is here.